WASHINGTON -- Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the
popular Jewish radio talk show host, participated in a press conference last
week hosted by the Family Research Council to denounce a study published by
the American Psychological Association that suggests if a child is
''willing'' to have sex with an adult, it may not be harmful, and can even
be a positive experience.

Further, the article asserts that when there is
a ''willing'' sexual encounter between an adult and child, there should be
no talk of victims, or child abuse, but we should use the value-neutral
term, ''adult-child sex.''

Dr. Laura charged, ''This study is the first
step on the road toward normalizing pedophilia.'' That could have
profound legal consequences. Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, president of the National
Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, made a prediction:
''When a man gets arrested for sex with a child, you can bet he will have an
attorney who will cite this report, saying `He did no harm to the child.''

Nicolosi said the article in the prestigious
''Psychological Bulletin'' alleges that ''childhood sexual abuse is on
average only slightly associated with psychological harm, and that harm may
not be due to the psychological experience, but to the negative family
factors in the children's backgrounds. When the sexual contact is not
coerced, especially when it is experienced by a boy and is enjoyed, it may
not be harmful at all.''

Rhea Farberman, spokeswoman for the American
Psychological Association, told me, ''The APA position is that child sexual
abuse is seriously harmful, especially to females and should never be
considered acceptable behavior. All abuse is wrong. All is
exploitative of the child.''

If that is APA's position, why would it publish
a study arguing the opposite? ''We publish studies not because we
agree or disagree, if it can pass our peer review process,'' she replied.

Sorry, but that's irresponsible. The
health and security of tens of thousands of lives are at stake. If a
green light is given to pedophiles, there will be more child molestation.
And there will be fewer convictions in court.

The American Psychiatric Association has already
taken a dangerous step down this road. Dr. Nicolosi reports that in its
latest diagnostic manual (DSM-IV), ''a person no longer has a psychological
disorder simply because he molests children. To be diagnosed as
disordered now he must also feel anxious about the molestation, or be
impaired in his work or social relationships. Thus the APA. has left room
for the `psychologically normal' pedophile.''

This is very alarming to men such as Anthony
Falzarano, a man who was a victim of six major molesters from age 9 through
17. One was a school teacher at a Key Club convention. He says, ''I was very
naive. I was consenting. But I was a child, and did not know any
better.'' The result is that he began to think of himself as being
homosexual. And indeed, he later became a male prostitute who had
hundreds of partners.

However, when the AIDS issue surfaced, Falzarano
realized that he had been risking his life, and withdrew from the gay life
scene. He later married, fathered children and founded Transformation,
a prominent ex-gay ministry in Washington. He adds, ''I have
ministered to 500-600 homosexuals in our ex-gay ministry, 75 percent of whom
have been molested, raped or sexualized before the age of 18.
That is too high a statistic to ignore.''

Therefore, the last step of the sexual
revolution, normalizing pedophilia, must be fought.

Interestingly, Falzarano organized 25 ex-gays
and their parents to picket the American Psychiatric Association's meeting
in Washington this week for another reason, its newly-stated opposition to
''reparative therapy' designed to change a person's sexual orientation from
homosexual to heterosexual. ''There is no scientific evidence that
reparative or conversion therapy is effective in changing a person's sexual
orientation. There is, however, evidence that this type of therapy can
be destructive,'' argued Dr. Rodrigo Munoz, APA President.

''We are concerned about this latest move to
vilify therapists who help homosexuals heal,'' said Falzarano.

Dr. Nicolosi has been trying to get three
different studies published by the APA proving the viability of reparative
therapy without luck. One asked 882 people who had received therapy
whether it helped them. Some 17.6 percent said they are now
exclusively heterosexual; 16.7 percent are ''almost entirely heterosexual
and another 11 percent more heterosexual than homosexual.'' Another
survey of 280 licensed therapists reported similar results: one third were
cured and another third made progress.

If either APA is intellectually honest, it would
publish evidence contradicting its bias.